Finger guard



Jan. 11, 1966 AMES ErAL FINGER GUARD Filed March 18, 1963 INVENTORS RUDOLPH AMES LOUIS AMES I Med 12m United States Patent 3,228,033 FINGERGUARD Rudolph Ames, 13646 Julian Ave., Lakeside, Calif., and Louis Ames,1927 Granger Ave., National City, Calif. Filed Mar. 18, 1963, Ser. No.265,909 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-21) The present invention relates generally toa baby guard and more particularly to a guard adapted to be placed overthe fingers of a person for use while pinning garments, particularlydiapers, on a baby.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an effective babyguard adapted to be positioned on the fingers of one hand and so locatedadjacent a babys body as to positively prevent accidental penetration ofthe body by a pin used in the securement of garments.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved guardadapted to be positioned on the fingers of one hand having meansincorporated therein to direct the point of a safety pin into the properposition to be engaged by the locking head of the safety pin.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improvedbaby guard to protect the hand of a person, and more particularly thefingers, against injury by a pin, needle or other pointed implement.

Finally, it is an object to provide a baby guard of the aforementionedcharacter which is simple and convenient to use and which will givegenerally efiicient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements andportions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawingswhich form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of our improved guard in position of use embracingthe index and middle finger of 'one hand;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a section similar to FIGURE 2 of a slightly modified form ofour invention.

Our improved baby guard consists of an elongated hollow body membergenerally indicated by the reference numeral 10. This body member has abottom wall 12, top wall 14 and side walls 16 and 18. One end 20 of bodyis open to facilitate entry of fingers therein. The other end 22 iscurved as shown in FIGURE 1. Side walls 16 and 18 extend around the end22 to form a substantially closed end wall 24. If desired, apertures 26may be provided in end wall 24 for the purpose of facilitating passageof fluid therethrough during washing.

The upper surface of the top wall 14 is flat throughout the majorportion of the top wall with a raised portion or peripheral guard rail28 located adjacent the juncture of the top wall with the side walls 16and 18 and end wall 24. As will be apparent from FIGURE 3 this guardrail extends completely around the body member except for open end andhas an inner inclined surface 29 that merges with the upper surface oftop wall 14.

The inner surface of top wall 14 has formed integrally therewith aninwardly extending rib 30. As shown in FIGURE 3 this rib extendslongitudinally throughout the 3,228,933 Patented Jan. 11, 1966 majorportion of top wall 14 and serves not only as a reinforcing means butalso as a means to guide and separate the fingers during application ofthe guard on the hand. Anti-slippage or cloth gripping structure, suchas nodular structure 32 or serrations are provided on the forward upperedge portion.

Guard 10 is formed of any suitable material having the desired hardnesscharacteristics. Any of the well known synthetic plastics which areparticularly suited for molding may be used. Although we prefer to moldour guard in one piece as shown in FIGURE 2, it may be formed in twopieces secured together by an adhesive or other means, as shown inFIGURE 4.

Operation With particular reference to FIGURE 1 our improved guard isshown in position of use on the index and middle finger of the hand withguard rail 28 extending upwardly. The point of application of aconventional safety pin in the babys garment is now located and theguard 10 positioned directly between this point and the babys body. Uponinsertion of the pin through the garment the point will strike the uppersurface of the guard at a point within the area defined by the guard.Further movement of the pin will cause the point to engage the inclinedsurface 29 where it will be directed upwardly for return penetration ofthe garment to a position for sealing with the usual head of the safetypin.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the inventiondisclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scopeof the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to beconsidered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

We claim: 1. A guard adapted to be fitted upon two adjacent fingerscomprising:

an elongated hollow body having spaced top and bottom wallsinterconnected by side walls substantially coextensive in length withthe top and bottom walls, a substantially closed end wall and an openend, said top Wall having an upper surface which is flat throughout themajor portion of the top wall; and

an upwardly extending guard rail curvedly merged with and disposedperipherally of said upper surface at the junction of said top wall andside walls and generally defining the upper lateral edges of the guard,said upper surface and guard rail being of hard material so that thepoint of a pin moving along the upper surface of the top wall will bedeflected upwardly upon contact with said guard rail.

2. A guard as claimed in claim 1 in which the inner surface of the topwall is provided with a longitudinal reinforcing rib midway between theside Walls and extending inwardly part way toward said bottom wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 490,733 1/1893Armat 2-21 549,229 11/ 1895 Connelly 2-21 X 1,642,311 9/1927 Richardson2-21 X 2,653,320 9/1953 Olson 2-20 2,935,354 5/1960 Chapman 2-21 XJORDAN FRANK-LIN, Primary Examiner.

1. A GUARD ADAPTED TO BE LIFTED UPON TWO ADJACENT FINGERS COMPRISING: ANELONGATED HOLLOW BODY HAVING SPACED TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS INTERCONNECTEDBY SIDE WALLS SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE IN LENGTH WITH THE TOP ANDBOTTOM WALLS, A SUBSTANTAILLY CLOSED END WALL AND AN OPEN END, SAID TOPWALL HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE WHICH IS FLAT THROUGHOUT THE MAJOR PORTIONOF THE TOP WALL; AND AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING GUARD RAIL CURVEDLY MERGEDWITH AND DISPOSED PERIPHERALLY OF SAID UPPER SURFACE AT THE JUNCTION OFSAID TOP WALL AND SIDE WALLS AND GENERALLY DEFINING THE UPPER LATERALEDGES OF THE GUARD, SAID UPPER SURFACE AND GUARD RAIL BEING OF HARDMATERIAL SO THAT THE POINT OF A PIN MOVING ALONG THE UPPER SURFACE OFTHE TOP WALL WILL BE DEFLECTED UPWARDLY UPON CONTACT WITH SAID GUARDRAIL.